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My paternal grandparents had four children. Two sons, David and Jakub, and two daughters, Sarolta and Foga. After my grandfather died, my grandmother lived with her daughters. She lived in a three-room apartment, on the second floor, at 1 Vysoka Street. She rented out two of the rooms, and used the proceeds to cover household costs.
The building belonged to the Büchlers, who had a large carpet store on the ground floor. The building stood where the Forum Hotel is today. Across the street was the Astoria Café. Every evening, there would be music being played in that café. My grandmother loved to sit by a half-opened window and sing to herself the operettas they were playing there. She was only sad in the winter, as the café windows were closed, and she couldn't hear the music.
After her husband died, my grandma was very poor, a pauper. She de facto lived on support she got from my father [Jakub Singer] and her daughter Sarolta. Sarolta worked as a sales representative for some company, which for a woman was very unusual in those days. She was very capable, but the poor woman died young due to her thyroid gland, in Vysne Hagy.
In the Singer family, Jewish customs and traditions were observed to the letter. My grandma's hair was cut short and she wore a wig. She also covered her head with a small decorative scarf, which also had little pearls crocheted onto it [3]. Back then, all old devout women wore that. In her household, cooking was done according to ritual [4]. Women didn't attend synagogue very much, just once in a while for the High Holidays. As our family didn't live in Bratislava anymore, my grandma was used to spending the High Holidays with her other son, David.
The building belonged to the Büchlers, who had a large carpet store on the ground floor. The building stood where the Forum Hotel is today. Across the street was the Astoria Café. Every evening, there would be music being played in that café. My grandmother loved to sit by a half-opened window and sing to herself the operettas they were playing there. She was only sad in the winter, as the café windows were closed, and she couldn't hear the music.
After her husband died, my grandma was very poor, a pauper. She de facto lived on support she got from my father [Jakub Singer] and her daughter Sarolta. Sarolta worked as a sales representative for some company, which for a woman was very unusual in those days. She was very capable, but the poor woman died young due to her thyroid gland, in Vysne Hagy.
In the Singer family, Jewish customs and traditions were observed to the letter. My grandma's hair was cut short and she wore a wig. She also covered her head with a small decorative scarf, which also had little pearls crocheted onto it [3]. Back then, all old devout women wore that. In her household, cooking was done according to ritual [4]. Women didn't attend synagogue very much, just once in a while for the High Holidays. As our family didn't live in Bratislava anymore, my grandma was used to spending the High Holidays with her other son, David.
Location
Slovakia
Interview
Singer Alexander